US APPROVES PFIZER COVID-19 VACCINE FOR KIDS AGED 12-15

US health regulators have approved Pfizer-biontech’s Covid-19 vaccine for people between 12 and 15 years of age, making it the first for children.

It’s the same vaccine that is being administrated to people 16 years and older and will be delivered in two separate shots of primer and a booster.

In a trial involving 2,260 participants, none of those given the vaccine contracted Covid-19 while 16 among those given a saline placebo tested positive.

Calling the emergency use authorisation “significant step” in the fight against the epidemic, Janet Woodcock, acting head of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), said, “Today’s action allows for a younger population to be protected from Covid-19, bringing us closer to returning to a sense of normalcy and to ending the pandemic.”

She added: “Parents and guardians can rest assured that the agency undertook a rigorous and thorough review of all available data, as we have with all of our Covid-19 vaccine emergency use authorisations.”

“This is a promising development in our fight against the virus,” President Joe Biden said in a statement. “If you are a parent who wants to protect your child, or a teenager who is interested in getting vaccinated, today’s decision is a step closer to that goal.”